How far do you commute to work?

w00519772

I have worked in my current role for about seven years.

On Friday I received an email about a position 45 miles away. I am trying to decide whether if it is worthwhile. The position looks great.

From a financial perspective it is about a 8% pay rise. I think the transport costs would be about £2K per year, which eat into that. At the moment I live about five miles away from were I work.

I would be interested to hear how far other people commute who commute this distance or more. Is it too far to commute? What time do you leave in the morning and what time do you arrive at work? Is there a lot of congestion on your journey? Were you able to negotiate transport costs?

The furthest I have ever commuted is about 25 miles.

CKhalvashi

My commute is 45ish miles each way, and takes about an hour.

I eat through about £80 a week in diesel (2.0 diesel/auto, small 4x4 or same combination in a small execmobile, including personal use but excluding business travel) and I would prefer to work closer to home, however the problem came when the perfect office came for sale in a decent location, and decisions had to be made.

If you want the job, go for it, although from the above costs, you have to ask if it's really worth it.

HappyMJ

w00519772 wrote: »

I have worked in my current role for about seven years.

On Friday I received an email about a position 45 miles away. I am trying to decide whether if it is worthwhile. The position looks great.

From a financial perspective it is about a 8% pay rise. I think the transport costs would be about £2K per year, which eat into that. At the moment I live about five miles away from were I work.

I would be interested to hear how far other people commute who commute this distance or more. Is it too far to commute? What time do you leave in the morning and what time do you arrive at work? Is there a lot of congestion on your journey? Were you able to negotiate transport costs?

The furthest I have ever commuted is about 25 miles.

The way I figure it out is (45 minus 5) times 2 times 5 times 46.4 which equals the additional commuting miles you will be doing in one year. 18,560...then multiply that figure by 25 pence (the running cost of the car including additional maintenance and wear and tear) which gives £4,640 then divide that figure by 0.68 which allows for 20% income tax and 12% national insurance which then gives £6,824. That's the figure you need to earn to break even on the mileage. Then I add the hassle factor which is different for many people. Doing a second morning/evening job paying minimum wage at home with zero additional commuting I could very easily earn £7.20 per hour before tax. An extra 80 miles per day might take me an extra 2 hours (assuming this is clear motorway mileage) so multiplying that out by 5 (days) and 46.4 (weeks) then I'd need to earn an extra £3,340 per year added to the £6,824 makes £10,164.

I would not even consider the job if it didn't pay an additional £10,000 more per year than my existing job.

You say you are on £25,000 and it pays 8% more (the £2,000) to make £27,000. I would be losing money if I took that job. No thanks.

kathrynha

When it comes to commutes I think time is more important than distance. I personally wouldn't want to be travelling for more than an hour. I value my time more than I value the extra money that I wouldn't have time to spend if I had a longer commute.

[Deleted User]

I commute 1 hour 45 mins each way - drive, train, tube, walk.

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

TELLIT01

It would take more than an 8% payrise for me to voluntarily increase commute time from 5 to 45 miles each day. Apart from the lost time and additional costs, you need to consider how you would get to work if you had a problem with your car, assuming you will have to drive.
The longest I have done is approximately 35 miles each way, which was motorway most of the way so not too time consuming. It still became a drag over time and I was more than happy when I changed job.

lush_walrus

There are so many things to take into account. Like any job you need to consider future prospects of both your existing job and your new potential job. If it all worked out would you consider moving closer to it, is it potentially a short term commute? Or indefinite? Is driving the only option could you get a route by train? It's good to have q back up if you do commute, accidents happen and you then find you can't drive as its blocked. Or if you go by train there's sometimes an issue or strike and having an option to drive is then useful.

If they are equal then I would say the hassle of the commute is not worth it. 45 miles is substantial and you really need to try out the route during the times you would be making the journey before deciding a simple route can be a nightmare in rush hour.

I commute but I chose to do that as I moved out of London and my business is in London. Commuting into London is easy and I enjoy the time to myself and very much see it as my quality time before getting to work in the morning and before dealing with dinner and children in the evening.

w00519772

HappyMJ wrote: »

The way I figure it out is (45 minus 5) times 2 times 5 times 46.4 which equals the additional commuting miles you will be doing in one year. 18,560...then multiply that figure by 25 pence (the running cost of the car including additional maintenance and wear and tear) which gives £4,640 then divide that figure by 0.68 which allows for 20% income tax and 12% national insurance which then gives £6,824. That's the figure you need to earn to break even on the mileage. Then I add the hassle factor which is different for many people. Doing a second morning/evening job paying minimum wage at home with zero additional commuting I could very easily earn £7.20 per hour before tax. An extra 80 miles per day might take me an extra 2 hours (assuming this is clear motorway mileage) so multiplying that out by 5 (days) and 46.4 (weeks) then I'd need to earn an extra £3,340 per year added to the £6,824 makes £10,164.

I would not even consider the job if it didn't pay an additional £10,000 more per year than my existing job.

You say you are on £25,000 and it pays 8% more (the £2,000) to make £27,000. I would be losing money if I took that job. No thanks.

Why do you add income tax and national insurance? I would pay for petrol on my net income?

HappyMJ

w00519772 wrote: »

Why do you add income tax and national insurance? I would pay for petrol on my net income?

You earn gross income then you pay tax and national insurance on it to pay for the car.

To pay for a tank of fuel at (for calculation sake) £68 you need to earn £100 first then you pay 20% tax and 12% National Insurance on that leaving you with £68.

A car's running cost is more than the petrol. You need to service your car more regularly. The book might say every 12 months or 10,000 miles if you're doing almost 20,000 miles more then the car needs servicing every 4 months. You will go through tyres quicker especially if the mileage is motorway mileage. If it's stop-start traffic you'll go through the brakes quicker.

w00519772

HappyMJ wrote: »

You earn gross income then you pay tax and national insurance on it to pay for the car.

To pay for a tank of fuel at (for calculation sake) £68 you need to earn £100 first then you pay 20% tax and 12% National Insurance on that leaving you with £68.

A car's running cost is more than the petrol. You need to service your car more regularly. The book might say every 12 months or 10,000 miles if you're doing almost 20,000 miles more then the car needs servicing every 4 months. You will go through tyres quicker especially if the mileage is motorway mileage. If it's stop-start traffic you'll go through the brakes quicker.

Say I chose to stay were I am. I would of still paid tax and Ni on the savings in my bank. Therefore I dint understand why it is relevant to your calculation. Thanks.

elsien

26 miles takes me an hour and a half at going home time. So 45? No chance.